Author: jackexplainssecondlife

I will start this off by saying that Eddesign has been one of my favorite stores since I joined SL. So I admit I’m probably a little bias. But still, it’s hard not to enjoy the amount of talent that Edde Edman displays in his work. Today I will be focusing on the face tattoos created for the Aesthetic mesh avatar by Eddesign.

Labanca Face Tattoo for Aesthetic by Eddesign

These tattoos are the most realistic textures I have ever seen on SL. There is no debate about that. The amount of detail these faces carry even on low settings is phenomenal. No pore is out of place. No hair goes unnoticed. Everything about Edde Edman’s work is spectacular.

Steve Face Tattoo for Aesthetic by Eddesign

I started buying from Eddesign about 2 years ago and have never once regretted a purchase. He works really hard on these faces and it shows. These faces, especially the ones for the Aesthetic really bring out your avatar and make it hard to miss. Women and men absolutely love these faces. I get a lot of compliments on my avatar all because of these face tattoos.

Derek Full Head Tattoo for Aesthetic by Eddesign

Many of the newer faces by Eddesign includes hairbases and more facial hair options. I find this to be a good and a bad thing. Onto the good: the new hairbase options are great considering that the Aesthetic mesh heads only have 4 hairbases. The textures on the hair is great and is very realistic. It can give your avatar an all new look and can make using hair even easier. Onto the bad: with the exception of the hairbases included with the Aesthetic, you cannot mix and match the hairbases and faces on the hew head tattoos. I would really hope one day Edde allows the full head tattoos to be worn as just face Tatoos so that we can mix and match the hairbases.

Gregory Full Head Tattoo for Aesthetic Jonny Head by Eddesign

Bottom line: these face tattoos can totally change the look of your avatar giving both a mature and realistic look to them. They blend quite well into the skin of the Aesthetic. Though I have a word of caution with these tattoos: some of these tattoos can only be worn with the Jonny or Enzo medium skin tones and will be impossible to blend into any other skin. So be sure to double check the contents of the folder before buying. I highly recommend these heads. And they’re quite cheap. Much cheaper than a new skin. Hope to see you soon at this unique store.

Deadwool is hands down one of the best stores I can think of on Second life. Masa Plympton creates some of the best mesh and the best textures on Second Life. However, Deadwool falls under a niche market. These clothes do not suit everyone and the word “hipster” could be easily used to describe these products. But is that a bad thing? I think not. Deadwool has clothes that will really set the average man apart. As the ZZ Top goes “every girl crazy about a sharp dressed man”, and Deadwool certainly proves this. Now that you have my opinions on Deadwool in general, let’s take a look at the Hugo Shirt.

Hugo Shirt – Light Blue by Deadwool

This is one of the most life-like shirts I have ever seen on Second Life. The wrinkles are spot on and the level of detail is out of this world. It is truly a work of art within the world of Second Life. The colors are also beautiful. They’ve got a very pale and almost vintage look about them.

Hugo Shirt – Light Blue by Deadwool – Side

No matter which angle I view this shirt from, it always looks flawless. I literally have no complaints about this shirt. It is also compatible with several pants provided by Deadwool. It gives off a very masculine vibe with the rolled up sleeves, broad shoulders, and large muscular chest.

Hugo Shirt – Light Blue by Deadwool

It is amazing just how much this shirt stands out compared to anything else on Second Life. It looks almost as if I can reach out and touch it. The level of care Masa provides in his work is something that should be honored in the world of cloned mesh items and bland texture work.

Hugo Shirt – Light Blue by Deadwool – Back

Spin your camera around this shirt, try and find a flaw. It’ll be a challenge I promise you. This is true perfection within the 3D world. You will not believe all the crosshairs I have hovering over my head when I leave home with the Hugo Shirt on. It is a chick magnet I promise you. I also can’t imagine the men don’t get in a few stares here and there either.

The one thing that Deadwool does that is not a common practice is that many of the clothes are compatible with one another. The Hugo can be worn as an add-on for the Dandy Formal Jacket as seen in my picture. And believe me, it’s not the only item Deadwool sells that can be worn as an add-on. It brings more options to your wardrobe when you can mix and match items so this is just the cherry-on-top when it comes to such a beautiful mesh product.

It was about time I talked about some furniture on this blog. To be honest I don’t buy a lot of furniture. I typically do not rent a home and instead use sandboxes for my needs so the desire to buy or use furniture really isn’t all that there. Plus, I am horrible at decorating. However, I do have a good eye for well-made furniture and animations. So today I felt the need to write about the Remington Bed by Bartlett & Nielsen.

Now I was surprised to learn that this bed is sculpt and not mesh, as I really cannot tell by looking at it. The bed is very well made. The wood is very realistic looking. Looks just like a bed you’d find after renting a cabin. I was amazed by the detail found in the blanket. It has a true sense of realism and comfort. Looks like a quilt hand stitched by grandma. Gives off a cozy and comforting vibe.

Now onto the animations. The animations are something to brag about. They are pure quality and a good reason to pay extra for this sculpted bed by Bartlett & Nielsen. They are very romantic in nature. Very slow. Very passionate. This is a true lover’s bed and not for exactly made for the leather-bound kink masters though I’m sure this bed could manage even for them. It’s made for couples far in love here on Second Life.

Sweet and cuddly is the best way I can describe most of these poses. It’s something slow. Something calming, comforting. Something that gives you this sense of laziness when you use it. The poses are also quite photogenic and don’t jerk around a lot. They’re smooth and play-out quite well. I didn’t see any obvious looping of the animation.

The bed has a large number of cuddle animations. Far more than any other bed I’ve seen. This is where the pride comes in. A bed just for long-term partners or heck even just close friends might get a kick out of this bed. The Remington features 605 animations and a large portion of those are cuddle poses. Beautifully animated cuddle and couple poses. The asking price of L$5,000 is nothing when you realize the high quality of animations built into the bed.

But let’s not forget the real reason many people buy beds; for the adult animations and believe me, this bed also has great adult animations. I didn’t take any pictures of any graphic scenes because I really want to keep this blog G-rated but they are quite realistic which is almost unheard of on Second Life. They are a bit slower-paced but include both slow and seductive sex poses and some things a little more on the kinky side. Though as I said earlier, this really isn’t a bed for the BDSM crowd. Also if you like porn-ish style sex poses, this wouldn’t work for you. These poses are more like something you’d experience in real life in the bedroom.

The sense of reality with this bed I find is a really good reason to purchase it. On Second Life exaggerations are common and this bed really sticks to a more passionate and seductive route more commonly found in the average couple’s bedroom.

With an option of 605 animations and 209 adult animations or 300+ animations with 150 adult animations, you can find the bed that suits you. Now don’t be fooled, the cost of this bed is high, running at either $L5,000 or $L2,000 it is something that might but a dent in your wallet. However, I can say it is easily worth this asking price. The smoothness and quality of the animations along with the craftsmanship of the bed itself make the Remington bed by Bartlett & Nielsen one of the best pieces of furniture I have seen on Second Life.

Time and time again, I happen to stumble upon a review on Marketplace that just feels very unfair to the product and to the creator of the product. Now, this isn’t unique to Marketplace and is a fairly common practice on websites such as YouTube, Amazon, and Yelp, however I feel it is more common on Marketplace. I cannot say if it really is more common or not, but it feels this way.

Many of the products featured on the lowest rating search are in fact reviewed unfairly. Many of these products are absolutely fine but for some reason there is a need for extremes when it comes to rating something. Now why is that I wonder?

Why do we have a five-star-rating system if it seems a like/dislike system would work better for many customers on Second Life? Well, because a like or dislike system doesn’t really express how good a product is. You can dislike something that is good or like something that is bad. With a five-star-system it allows for people to express just how good they feel a product is, but it just doesn’t seem to be used this way. Many people appear to rate things just based on likes or dislikes. This is unfair to the creator who will now have a harder time selling his/her product due to the poor review.

Reviews that feature common-human-error are something I come across on a daily basis. It is perfectly fine to admit that you made a mistake or that you were misinformed about the product. Perhaps you can contact the creator and inform him or her that you made a mistake or that you feel the product isn’t what it advertised to be. Many builders on Second Life are happy to keep customer satisfactory up. However, if you bought a product by accident, and feel entitled to a refund, you may not get anything other than another product from the store or store credit. Scams do happen and unfortunately there is no way to tell if someone is being truthful or not. But please do not take it out on the store unless they deliberately misinformed you about an item.

How the Five-Star-System Should Work:

5 Stars = Excellent

4 Stars = Good but not great

3 Stars = Okay/decent

2 Stars = Bad/below average

1 Star = Horrible/the worst

And I’m sure someone here is thinking “how do I know which rating would be fair for this specific product?” It is simple but many times falls onto personal judgment.

What You Should Consider When Writing a Review:

Is the product well made/well textured?

Was the item delivered?

If you needed customer service, how exactly was it?

Is the advertisement/vendor accurate?

Is the product description accurate?

Now for some of these such as product delivery it is best to contact the store owner before writing a review. Sometimes things happen and the creator of the product should not be punished for a mistake. Even perhaps contacting him or her if the product description is a little misleading, maybe English isn’t his/her first language and they needed a little outside help to correct the wording.

If you feel the need to contact a store owner, be patient. Make sure you always read their contact info listed on his or her profile. Some creators respond to IM’s, many only respond to notecards. Also, real life comes first. Some builders cannot be on 24/7. I would suggest waiting about two to three weeks for a store owner to respond. That may seem a little long but people go on vacation. Believe me when I say most store owners would be happy to help you with the product.

How to Write a Review:

Always try to give a review. It is very important to the store if you review their products on Marketplace. It helps sell the product and allow more people to view the product. Store owners really appreciate when you tell them how you feel. And when writing a review, always remember to be descriptive. Do not write “I didn’t like it” and expect the store owner to know why you didn’t like the product. They cannot improve on something without having detailed feedback. Also, please make sure you have the right rating checked and reread your review. It is not uncommon to read a review that does not make any sense even from native English speakers or finding a one star review on an item the customer felt was good.

Now with all this in mind, if you still feel the need to give someone one star, go ahead! As I said earlier it relies heavily on personal judgment. Some products are rip offs, copybotted, scams, or poorly made and they absolutely deserve to be one starred! Do not be afraid to speak your mind when it comes down to it. Just remember to be fair about it.

Now I feel this is important to address too: if a builder starts to harass and blackmail you into changing your review, please report them. Screenshot the logs, copy the logs into a notecard and send them to Linden Labs. Do not allow bullying to happen on Second Life!

I hope this message helps those out there understand how to give good or better feedback on products. It is very important to make sure that everyone has a great experience on Second Life and having accurate helpful reviews on items will make buying and selling a whole lot easier.

Women’s hair is a really big deal on Second Life. I know women who buy several different kinds of hairs for their avatars a week. It’s a big market with thousands of options to choose from. Women’s hairstyles are such a big deal on Second Life, that the Marketplace even has four separate categories for how to shop for women’s hairs. Hundreds of stores sell women’s hair exclusively. With all that being said, it would be criminal for us not to take a good look at women’s hairstyles at times. So today, we will take a good look at the Peggy hair by Mina.

Mina Peggy Hair Dark Red – Frontal. Pictures by my friend Neph.

Peggy is a hairstyle sold by Mina and created by Mina Nakamura that features a unique mesh shape, as well as realistic and brightly colored textures. The store Mina has been on Marketplace since 2006, and the Peggy has been available since early 2015, possibly late 2014. For 250L, does it compete fairly against the massive amounts of competition available on Second? Just judging by this picture, the easy answer is “yes”.

Mina is well known for creating realistic and vibrant hairstyles for women, and the Peggy hair is no exception. This hairstyle is alive and beautiful. It gives a sense of youthfulness yet oddly enough at the same time maturity to the wearer. It could easily be worn with any outfit, any occasion, any event.

Peggy Hair by Mina Dark Red – Frontal

The texture work on this piece of hair makes it stand out. With the large market for women’s hair, there is a lot of competition, and with this amount of detail given to the hair, it is guaranteed to make you stand out in a crowd. The rich colors, give you a nice freshly dyed look. Each individual strand of hair can be seen with its own shade and texture to give only the most beautifully crafted realistic look.

Peggy Hair by Mina Dark Red – Back

As you can see by these pictures provided by my friend Nephilim, panning your camera around 180 degrees will not reveal any flaws with this hair. The back is just as beautiful and well-made as the front. I can see no flaws with the Peggy. Mina is a true artist with this hair. Giving a charming and elegant yet very girlish appearance. Not enough can be said about just how gorgeous this hair is.

Peggy Hair by Mina – Side

The hair drapes organically over the breast of the woman in the photos. With no visual clipping to be seen. Something unique about the Peggy is that there are several sizes included in the folder that indicate exactly where the ends of the hair will rest. If you are a large-breasted woman, do not worry, the Peggy hair has got you covered making sure there is no gap between the hair and the body, yet no clipping between the breast and the hair. For 250L, the average cost of hair on Second Life, this hairstyle has pulled out all the stops and made sure you were getting your money’s worth.

Comes with a HUD that allows for you to pick which shade best suits your personality, mood, or dress. Each pack includes 5 different shades.

On my blog, I intend to go over just about everything that Second Life has to offer. One cannot deny that women’s fashion is one of the biggest, if not the biggest things that Second Life has to offer. Though, I am male and can only speak from a male point of view, I can invite the help of others to give me their feelings about a particular article of clothing intended for women. My friend has provided me with information of her experience of the dress. I will also provide my feelings on the style of the dress.

Phenix is quite a popular women’s clothing brand on the realms of Second Life. Having opened their MP store in July of 2009, they have earned quite a good reputation since then. With excellent prices and an eye for detail, just how well does the the “Jocey’ hold up when it comes to other works by Phenix?

Just looking at the front side of the dress, you will see that the texture quality is phenomenal. The level of detail on this dress is nothing short of spectacular. With realistic textures on the flexi attachment that flow nicely into the mesh upper body, I feel a sense of awe when viewing these pictures.

The dress has a sense of elegance to it. Something that would really stick out when entering a ballroom. There is just this natural flow when moving in the dress. Nothing on it ever seems to be out of place. The curves aren’t exaggerated like a lot of women’s clothing, but it does show off a beautiful womanly shape. This is a kind of dress you’d wear if you want to turn some heads!

Phenix “Jocey” Formal Dress Gown Red – Back

As we look at the back of the dress you can see just how beautifully the flexi attachment moves with the avatar. There is an optional bow attachment for the back of the dress to just add to its charm. Every angle of this dress is just classy.

Phenix “Jocey” Formal Dress Gown Red – Side

The “Jocey” will be a great addition to any woman’s wardrobe on Second Life. Suiting any formal event that one could attend. It also has a nice Gothic look to it for those who are interested in vampirism or are a member of Bloodlines.

The only flaw I can really find in this dress is the fact that the shape may have to be edited in order to fit into the dress. The breasts gravity and cleavage may have to be changed to properly fit into the dress. So I can only recommend this dress for those who have a modifiable shape. The price is also a little much, at 399L, however due to the amount of effort put into this dress, I can say that it’s easily worth it.

I feel like the ability to use Phototools on Second Life is almost as important as the ability to change your clothes. It’s just something that every person should understand how to use in order to enhance their experience on Second Life. Many people luckily do know how to use windlight settings but it seems to surpass some. If you do not know how to use windlight, I would be happy to show you exactly how it’s done. And don’t worry. It’s very simple!

For this demonstration I have used Firestorm Viewer. If you use SL Viewer or Singularity, this may not help you.

This is important to do first as your graphic settings have a lot of influence on how good your photos are going to look. It is recommended to use high or ultra settings for photos, however any setting other than low should be fine if you check off the right boxes.

When you first open preferences in Firestorm Viewer under Graphics, this is what you should see.

Make sure you have Atmopsheric shaders and Advanced Lighting Model checked. If you use a mesh avatar, I also recommend checking Avatar Cloth.

Optional: Check Transparent Water. This will only be useful if you’re taking a picture that includes water somewhere in the frame. Transparent water can cause lag.

Once you make sure that all your graphic settings are correct, you can move onto the next step.

Go to Phototools by World > Photo and Video > Phototools or Alt+P

You should see this on your screen. After this, just click the arrows beside WL Sky or use the drop down arrow to find a WL Sky setting that has a nice ring to it. Watch as your screen starts to change and the sim looks completely different just from the change in lighting. You can also use the yellow slider to adjust the position of the sun. Just two steps! That simple!

I hope this helps all Firestorm users learn how to use photos to change their experience!